The internet delivers an abundance of information to the farthest reaches of the globe. Bombarded with news and opinions, status updates and tweets, we complain of information overload and wonder which sources to trust. Yet, amid all this information, it is harder now than ever to get access to the latest, most reliable peer-reviewed research — a critical source of unbiased knowledge that sparks the big ideas that cure disease, protect our planet, and enhance our understanding of the human condition.

Whether in a library or online, people today are more likely than not to be asked to pay an exorbitant price for access to published research articles — often to the detriment of the public good. But scientific and scholarly research should be readily available to all — from the student interested in the latest developments in astronomy, to the parent seeking information about medical advancements in cancer research, to the retiree curious about a recent archeological discovery in a faraway place.

Motivated by profits rather than the societal benefit of sharing knowledge, major corporate publishers take the work of researchers around the globe and place it behind a paywall so high that even many large universities — where most of this research is, in fact, generated — can’t afford to pay for access. And whether or not those institutions can pay, the public at large does not benefit — even when, as taxpayers, they have helped fund the research itself.

A global movement is seeking to change this, and the University of California — which accounts for nearly 10 percent of the nation’s publishing output — is leading the way in the United States. The UC is currently negotiating with some of the world’s largest for-profit academic journal publishers, including giant Elsevier, to ensure that all research produced by scholars at our 10 campuses will be open access — freely available to anyone in the world to read, learn from, and build upon.

Opposition to the current model is growing in the United States and the world because the corporatization of scholarly communication has led to a fundamentally inequitable system that disrupts the progress of research for all. Some academic journal publishers, like Elsevier, have nearly 40 percent profit margins, which are substantially higher than most global corporations. At the same time, smaller universities and most liberal arts colleges can subscribe to only a small fraction of published research. And the problem is worse for scholars in poorer countries.

If we want to live in a society in which research informs how we solve the many problems facing humankind, then the results of that research must be freely available. New advances stand on the shoulders of existing ones. From the moon landing to the Human Genome Project, virtually every landmark discovery would have been impossible without access to previous work and the ability to build upon it.

As a public institution and global leader, the University of California should be a pioneer in the movement to increase free and open access to knowledge. From innovative vehicle emissions standards to our state’s recent move to save net neutrality, where California leads, the nation often follows.

The future of groundbreaking research that improves the lives of people across the globe depends on open access to the world’s knowledge — and here, too, California is poised to lead. Several European countries are moving quickly to advance open access at their own public institutions. Now it’s our turn.

Eric Baković is a professor in the UC San Diego Department of Linguistics. Christopher M. Kelty is a professor in the UCLA Departments of Anthropology and Information Studies. Karen Ottemann is a professor in the UC Santa Cruz Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology.